Video Demonstrating How to Enter Case Study Parameters and to Run the Simulator (JenksFERST Case Study Used)
The Air Quality Index [AQI] is an index for reporting daily air quality. It tells you how clean or polluted your air is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for you. The AQI focuses on health effects you may experience within a few hours or days after breathing polluted air. EPA calculates the AQI for five major air pollutants regulated by the Clean Air Act: ground-level ozone, particle pollution (also known as particulate matter), carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide. For each of these pollutants, EPA has established national air quality standards to protect public health. Ground-level ozone and airborne particles are the two pollutants that pose the greatest threat to human health in this country (airnow.gov).
The Tulsa Parks Authority has developed ecological management goals for the Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area, a Cross Timbers remnant. These goals include restoring ecosystem diversity and improving aesthetic appeal by increasing "openness" in wooded areas and by eliminating accumulated vegetative debris. Burn plans have been developed to reintroduce fire as a natural disturbance into the park to assist with meeting management goals.
Specific burn objectives for Turkey Mountain include:
Conduct prescribed fire operations with specific attention to incident and public safety through clear communication and utilization of best smoke management practices.
Reduce leaf litter and dead/dormant surface level fuel loading by approximately 75%.
Inflict overall stem mortality within the size classes as follows: <2" - 25-50%; 2"-3" - 50%; and >3" - 15%.
Consume 100 and 1,000 hour fuels completely where feasible.
"Burn Unit 13", shown in the map below, has an area of approximately 10 acres....
Bryan Kearns
Dobyns-Bennett High School
Fire Science
Tanner Culbreath
Jenks High School
Environmental Science